Paradium.AI is connecting its first-party audience curation platform with Elcano’s AI-powered deal management technology in a move that could make curated programmatic inventory easier to activate across display, online video, native and Connected TV (CTV). The partnership pairs Encore, Paradium.AI’s first-party data curation platform, with Victoria, Elcano’s AI agent for creating, managing and optimizing advertising deals. The companies are targeting a growing part of the programmatic market where advertisers want more controlled access to audiences and premium inventory, while publishers are looking for better ways to turn first-party data and owned media into higher-value advertising supply.
Paradium.AI and Elcano are combining first-party audience data with AI-powered programmatic deal management as advertisers and publishers look for alternatives to the increasingly fragmented open advertising market. Under the partnership, Elcano’s Victoria AI agent will connect with Paradium.AI’s Encore platform to help activate curated audiences across display, online video, native and CTV. The integration is designed to extend Paradium.AI’s audiences beyond its owned-and-operated properties into premium off-platform inventory while giving buyers a more structured way to access those audiences.
The underlying idea is relatively straightforward: instead of treating audience data and media inventory as separate pieces of the programmatic buying process, the companies are packaging them together into curated supply. Encore provides the first-party data layer, while Victoria is intended to handle much of the operational work involved in creating, managing and optimizing deals. Elcano says its infrastructure will support automated deal creation and management, real-time intelligence, reporting and continuous supply-side optimization.
That puts the partnership squarely in the broader supply-side curation trend within advertising technology. Publishers, data providers and agencies are increasingly building curated marketplaces that give advertisers more specific combinations of audience, inventory and media quality. The approach can also reduce some of the complexity involved in navigating large numbers of supply paths, although buyers still need to determine whether a curated deal provides enough incremental value to justify potentially higher media costs.
Paradium.AI’s own performance data provides part of the rationale for the strategy. According to internal Adomik reporting cited by the company, its curated inventory produced a $3.18 CPM in Q2 2026, compared with $2.97 for the open market, representing a 7% premium. The inventory also generated a 0.27% CTR, compared with 0.22% in the open market. These figures are based on Paradium.AI’s internal reporting rather than an independent industry benchmark, but they indicate why publishers may see curation as a potential monetization opportunity: if audience quality and inventory context can produce stronger engagement, buyers may accept a premium for that supply.
The timing also reflects a broader shift in how AI is being introduced into advertising operations. The Interactive Advertising Bureau says U.S. ad spending is expected to grow 9.5% in 2026, while two-thirds of buyers are focused on agentic AI for ad buying and campaign execution. Gartner separately forecasts that more than 70% of global ad spend will flow through self-serve advertising platforms where AI materially influences media buying, cost and outcomes by 2028.
Those developments suggest that AI’s role in advertising is moving beyond creative generation and campaign recommendations. Increasingly, AI is being embedded in the operational machinery that determines how media is packaged, bought, optimized and measured. Elcano’s Victoria fits that direction by applying an agent-based model to the deal-management side of programmatic advertising rather than using AI solely for campaign analysis.
The CTV and digital video components are particularly relevant. IAB projects U.S. digital video advertising spending will exceed $80 billion in 2026, with CTV, online video and social video continuing to attract investment. The organization also reports that two-thirds of digital video buyers are already live with, testing or planning agentic AI for video campaigns this year.
For advertisers, the value proposition is therefore less about simply gaining another audience segment and more about making curated supply easier to activate across multiple channels. A brand could potentially use Paradium.AI’s first-party audience assets while relying on Elcano’s infrastructure to manage the resulting programmatic relationships and optimize supply over time.
For publishers, the equation is different. First-party data has become more valuable as the advertising ecosystem continues to contend with privacy changes, signal loss and growing demand for addressable audiences. Turning that data into curated deals can provide another monetization path, particularly when the publisher has recognizable brands, engaged audiences or specialized content that can command a premium.
The challenge is proving that curation creates measurable value rather than simply adding another layer to the programmatic supply chain. Advertisers will still need transparency into fees, inventory quality, audience composition, reach, frequency and performance. Independent measurement will also matter as AI begins making more decisions inside advertising platforms. IAB’s 2026 outlook found that cross-platform measurement had become a priority for 72% of buyers, up from 64% a year earlier.
For enterprise media buyers, agencies and publishers evaluating similar technology, the important question is therefore not whether AI is involved but where it improves the workflow. Automated deal creation can reduce manual operations; real-time intelligence can help identify underperforming supply; and continuous optimization can potentially improve yield or campaign outcomes. But those benefits depend on data quality, interoperability with existing DSPs and SSPs, transparent reporting and the ability to maintain human oversight.
Stephanie Mazzamaro, Head of Programmatic, Addressability, and Ops at Paradium.AI, said the integration of first-party publisher data with Victoria strengthens the company’s curation capabilities and expands audience reach across new channels. Elcano CEO Kyle Vidasolo said connecting Encore and Victoria gives advertisers a more direct route to Paradium.AI’s first-party data, brands and audiences.
The partnership ultimately reflects a larger change in programmatic advertising: the supply side is becoming more intelligent and more curated. As platforms such as Google, Amazon and other major advertising ecosystems continue investing in AI-driven buying and optimization, independent publishers and data providers are also looking for ways to make their inventory and audience assets more competitive. Paradium.AI and Elcano are betting that combining first-party data with an AI agent for deal operations can help bridge that gap.
Market Landscape
The partnership arrives as programmatic advertising moves toward AI-assisted execution, curated supply and first-party audience activation. IAB expects digital channels including CTV and commerce media to post double-digit growth in 2026, while Gartner expects AI-influenced self-serve advertising platforms to account for more than 70% of global ad spend by 2028.
The competitive landscape includes DSPs, SSPs, data clean rooms, retail media platforms and supply-path optimization providers. Paradium.AI and Elcano are taking a narrower position by connecting publisher-owned audience assets with automated supply-side deal operations. The differentiator will ultimately be whether the combined platform can deliver better inventory quality, performance or publisher economics than standard open-market buying.
Top Insights
- Paradium.AI is connecting Encore with Elcano’s Victoria AI agent to automate curated programmatic deals across display, video, native and CTV.
- The partnership gives advertisers access to first-party audiences while helping publishers package proprietary data and premium inventory more effectively.
- Paradium.AI reported a $3.18 Q2 CPM for curated inventory versus $2.97 in the open market, alongside stronger reported CTR performance.
- AI is increasingly moving into programmatic operations, influencing deal creation, supply optimization, media buying and campaign execution rather than creative production alone.
- Enterprise buyers will need transparency, independent measurement and interoperability to determine whether curated supply delivers enough value to justify premium pricing.
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